DonorsChoose.org

Think back to your best school teachers. They probably went above and beyond teaching the school board mandated curriculum. They came up with new ideas for projects, experiences, and maybe even trips that would take your learning to the next level. But how did your teachers pay for these extras that weren’t in the budget? Maybe they fought tooth and nail to get some extra funding, or maybe they even paid for something out of pocket. No teacher should have to do that, and no teacher should have to scale back his or her teaching because of a lack of funding (within reason, of course). Luckily, there’s now a better way for teachers to fund classroom projects. It’s called DonorsChoose.org, and it’s a New York City based non-profit organization. The site allows teachers to propose funding requests for classroom projects. DonorsChoose.org users can search these requests for projects that appeal to them, and make donations to directly fund a given classroom project.

You Choose DonorsChoose.org

Usually the ability to choose exactly where your donation goes is reserved for the big whigs who donate millions of dollars. The average donor gives some money and never really has any say in how it’s used. With DonorsChoose.org you have the ability to specify exactly where your money goes, even if you only give a dollar. If you love painting, you can help supply paint brushes for fourth graders. If a microscope changed your life, then you can help provide a microscope for a 9th grade biology class. The options are really endless, but the control is in your hands. DonorsChoose.org has created an amazing platform for giving, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about it. They’re still pretty small, with fewer than 100 employees, but you have to think an idea like this is going to keep growing. Whenever they’re hiring, they seem to post it on their Blog, but they do mention in their FAQ that you can apply by sending a résumé and cover letter to jobs@donorschoose.org to be considered should a position open up. You might want to poke around LinkedIn too to see what kind of opportunities might open up in the future.

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Think back to your best school teachers. They probably went above and beyond teaching the school board mandated curriculum. They came up with new ideas for projects, experiences, and maybe even trips that would take your learning to the……